Sage’s McKeon, Hoeschen make Academy first team

Sage Hill School senior Katie McKeon and sophomore Sadie Hoeschen were recently named to the All-Academy League first team for softball.

Lightning sophomore center fielder Nikta Lotfian earned honorable-mention recognition.

McKeon, the only senior for Sage Hill (8-13, 6-5 in league), earned first-team all-league honors for the third straight year. She played shortstop and also pitched as needed for the Lightning. She finished with a .333 batting average, and walked more times (11) than she struck out (10). McKeon also pounded out 23 hits and scored a team-best 24 runs.

Pitching statistics were unavailable but Coach Beckie Gomez, McKeon’s mother, estimated her daughter threw in about 70% of the games for the Lightning.

Hoeschen, a second-team selection last year, batted a team-best .492 with three doubles and three triples, and an on-base percentage of .592. She had a team-high 30 hits.

Lotfian batted .273 for Sage Hill and had 15 hits.

The Lightning finished fourth in the Academy League and failed to qualify for the CIF playoffs.

Pitcher Melissa Gioino of league champion Oxford Academy was named league MVP.

— From staff reports